Daniel J. Schneider (Daniel J. Schneider)
I am a freelance documentary photographer and new media journalist based in Denver. My passion in life is seeing stories come together, whether in a single image or a long-term investigative package.
I grew up in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, Oregon, and learned early the beauty of nature from the green and majestic Pacific Northwest. Moving to Colorado in my youth only served to deepen my love of the outdoors.
My enthusiasm for storytelling was sparked when I discovered my father’s old typewriter gathering dust. Writing expanded to editing when I discovered my talent for helping others develop their stories, and print evolved into digital as publishing moved forward and I moved from typewriters to computers. I branched into social media, design and development in order to help create unique and broad-scope presentations online, and to bring readers into stories with interactive elements.
Photography is a much younger passion for me; things that didn’t click when I took pictures earlier in life suddenly did and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Making pictures, more than any other creative outlet, marries vision and inspiration with technical and mechanical processes that challenge and intrigue me.
I’ve photographed a variety of subjects in the few years I have been serious about making pictures. Digital gave me the ability the move quickly to expand my technical knowledge. Moving to film has helped me see image-making in new ways and helped me solidify and add to my understanding of composition and light.
My work is almost exclusively documentary, including spot and breaking news photos, portraits, landscapes and a little street photography. I am driven by an urge to turn ideas into images, to show others the stories I see in the world around me.
In addition to making pictures, I collect cameras — most from thrift stores and antique shops. In order to better understand the technical aspects and history of photography, I test and experiment with every working camera I can find and shares my test frames and mini reviews on my blog.
I find myself inspired constantly by the work of my coworkers on the photo staff at The Denver Post and my network of friend photographers around Colorado and the West. I am amazed daily by the ability of light and shadow to inspire and cement ideas in our memories.
A sampling of written works
- What’s in a #name? Hashtags and Colorado wildfires (Author)
- Interactive timeline: A history of major wildfires in Colorado (Co-author)
- [Infographic] Titanic struck iceberg with force equal to 37 express trains (Author)
- Special Section: Titanic 100 Years Later – Unsinkable, Unimaginable, Unforgettable (Designer, producer, programmer)
- Colorado holiday lights winner: Morrison house with 30K lights (Author)
- Interactive Timeline: Shooting at Aurora theater (Co-uthor)
- Twitter asks users to reset passwords after possible compromise (Author)
- How big is the fire? Compare Colorado wildfire sizes [Interactive] (Co-developer)
- Introductions: “We may experience some slight turbulence and then … explode” (Author)
Spot news photos for The Denver Post
- Photos: Denver police forcing Occupy Denver to move their property (2 photos)
- Bicyclist smashes into the side of a moving police car (1 photo)
- Woman rescued by helicopter from near Mount Evans in Clear Creek (1 photo)
- Denver’s Day of Rock puttin’ on the hits on 16th Street Mall (2 photos)
- Gunshot victim dead on Capitol Hill, Denver police investigating (1 photo)